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ELETRI RAILWAY.

No. 322,859. Patented July 21,1885.

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ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

No.. 322,859. Patented July 21, 1885.

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E. W. SIEMENS. ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

Patented-July 21,118.85.

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No@ 322,859. Patented July 21, 1885`l 6- Sheets-Sheet 5.-

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No. 322,859. Patented July 21, 1885.

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ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

No. 322,859. l Patented July 21, 14885.Y

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UNiTaED STATES PATENT OFFICEQ ERNST VERNER SIEMENS, OF BERLIN, GERMANY.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,859, dated July21,y 1885.

Application filed April 8, 1885. (No model.)

T @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ERNST VERNER SIE- MENS, asubject of the Emperor ofGermany, residing at Berlin, in the German Empire, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Electric Railways; and I do herebydeclare that the following` is a full,

clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to electric railways and to means and apparatusmade use of for transporting persons and things by the electricaltransmission of power; and the nature of my invention consists in themeans used for conveying the electrical energy to or from theelectro-dynamic motor mounted upon the vehicle to be moved. According tomy invention the current is conducted by a rigid conductor fixed uponinsulating standards. On this conductor orvrailis placed a smallcontact-truck composed Aof a set of wheels which travel upon the railand support the truck, and a set of adjustable and reversiblespring-brushes so arranged as to secure a perfect contact with the rail.

In the accompanying drawings, in which corresponding parts aredesignated by similar letters, Figure 1 shows a side view, partially insection, of a contact-truck operating with a rigid conducting-railaccording to my invention, and Fig. 2 is an end View of the same. Fig. 3is a part side elevation of a car having my invention applied thereto.Fig. et is a plan of the under framing of the same; and Fig. 5 is adiagram showing the connections ofthe electrical current. Fig. 6 is aside, and Fig. 7 an end view, of the car. Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate amethod of electrically connecting a traveling truck with a moving car. lThe iron or steel conducting-rail A, in connection with the stationarydynamo-electric machine, is suspended by suitable insulators, B, fromstandards along the line or from the roof of atunnel. The truck consistsof two side cheeks, C G, xed together at a certain distance apart bybolts D, and having uprights E at their ends,that carry grooved rollersE, by means of which the truck is supported on the rail.

G G are sockets, in which are secured the contact-brushes h 71 thatpress against the under surface of the conducting-rail A, so as to carrythe current from the latter to the frame o f the truck, from which it isled to the pendent socket I, in which is secured the flexible conductorK, leading to the railway-carriage. In order to insure perfect contactbetween the brushes h h and the rail, the sockets G G are pressed upwardby means of springs L, connected at the upper ends to brackets M on theframe, and at their lower ends to side pins' on the sockets G. Thebrushes are also adjustable in the sockets by means of clampingscrews N.Vhen the truck travels in the direction of the arrows, Fig. l, they willassume the angular position shown, being held in that position by stopso. On the motion of the carriage being reversed, the brushes will ofthemselves assume a reversed inclined position, being held then by stopsVP l?.

vThe locomotive made use of by me at the city of Berlin in the year1879, which is described in another application, consisted of a vehiclewith four wheels which were rigidly fastened to their axles, and a framework which carried the bearings of the drivingaxles, the electro-dynamicmotor, and the supports `for the axle of such wheels as were required toproduce the required ratio of velocity between the fast-running aXle ofthe electro dynamic motor and the comparatively slow-runningaxlesoi`thedriving-wheels. The metallic parts of the electro-dynamic motor wereelectrically insulated from the metallic parts of the frame-work, andthe electricallyconducting communication through the toothed wheelsbetween the motor and the frame was broken by applying aninsulatingpiece in one of the toothed wheels. The four wheels of thelocomotive were in conductingconnection with the frame, and also inconnection, through the rails, with the stationary dynamo-electricmachine. Between the two rails upon which the vehicle traveled a middlerail, insulated upon wood or in any other prop- IOO effected by means ofmetallic brushes attached to the car-frame in an insulated manner, andthe gap in the circuit thus formed between the brushes and the frame wasclosed by the copper wire of the electro'dynamic motor,and by a switchprovided with artificial resistances by leading an insulated wire fromthe brushes upon the rail to one ofthe poles of the electrodynamicmotors of the locomotive, and another insulated wire from the framethrough the switch to the other pole of the motor.

According to my present invention, a conducting-rail is placed above thetrack and in conductive communication with the stationarydynamo-electric machine. The rails upon which the car moves are joinedby copper staples, and form the return-circuit, and the current isconveyed to the car by the iiexible con ductor K, which may be attachedto the side ofthe car, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, or to the top. Fromthe iiexible conductor K the current is taken to a commutator by alever, which switches resistance-frames placed under the car in or out,as may be desired, and also changes the position of the brushes on thecommutator of the electro-dynamic motSor, and thus reverses thedirection of its moion.

ln starting thelocomotive the current is not turned on suddenly, but ismade to pass tlnough the resistances, which are afterward cut out inpart or altogether, according as the conductor chooses to run fast orslow. The current is conveyed from the electro-dynamic motor through theaxle-boxes to the axles, and from thence to the tires of the wheels, andfinally led by the insulated track-rails to the stationarydynamo-electric machine, as shown by dotted lines at Z, Fig. 4.

The parts of the conductor may be connected by sh-plates,and also bydouble copper loops securely soldered to the iron, and the trackrailsare connected in a similar manner.

The electro-dynamic motor K is placed beneath the floor in the center ofthe car, and by means of intermediate spur-gear drives one axle only,andthe levers Working the mechanical brakes and also thereversing-levers are connected to both ends of the car, so that theconductor can always stand in such a position as to have anuninterrupted View of the rails.

In Fig. 5, A represents the stationary dynaino-electric machine, fromwhich the current passes by the conductor B,which represents theconducting-rail A, previously described, and through thebefore-mentioned brushes to the switch Land resistance-frames M upon thecar. It will be seen that the resistances 1 2 3 4, 85o., are connectedtogetherin series, while connection is made from resistance l tocontact-plate a of the switch; from the junction of resistances 2 and 3to plate b,- from the junction of 4 and 5 to plate c; from the junctionof 6 and 7 to plate d, and from resistance 8 to plate e. Thecontact-plates a b c d e are connected, respectively, to (1,6, c, d, ande, so that when the contact-lever N is moved to the same angularposition on either side of the central kposition it makes the samecontacts. From the vcontact-lever N a conducting-wire, O, leads to theone pair of brushes P P of the commutator of the electro-dynamic motoron the car-,while from the other pair ofbrushes, Q Q', a conductor, R,representing the wheels of thevehicle and rails, leads the currentbackto the dynamo A. An extension, N2, of the lever N', is connected by arod, S, to a frame, T, pivoted on the axis V of the electro-dynamicmachine, which frame carries spring-arms W, the ends of which are madeto slide with a certain pressure upon the arms X, that carry thecontact-brushes, and that swing on pins X, iiXed to the dynamo-frame.Thus on shifting the contact-lever N, say to the right from the centralposition, the frame T will be moved so as to cause the arms W to bringthe brushes P and Q in contact with the commutator; and immediately uponsuch contacts being made, the lever N will be brought onto thecontactplate a, so that the circuit from B will now pass consecutivelythrough all the resistances in the direction from 8 to 1, and thencethrough plate a and wire O to the commutator, causing the dynamo-machineto rotate in the direction determined by'the position of thecontact-brushes, the current being, however, of comparatively littlestrength. On moving over the lever N successively to the plates b, c, d,and e, the strength of the current will be successively increased byreason of the resistances l 2 3, Ste., being successively cut out of thecircuit until, .when contact is made with plate e, the whole of theresistances are thus cut out, and the full strength of the current ismade to pass through the machine, which thus will propel the -car atfull speed.

For slacking the speed the lever is moved back to the contactplates d,c, b, or a, according to t-he speed required, thereby introducing thecorresponding resistances into the circuit, while for reversing thedirection of motion of the electro-dynamic motor, and consequently ofthe car, the lever is moved over to the left of the central position,whereby, first, the frame T and arms WV will be moved so as to bring thebrushes P Q out of contact, and those P and Q in contact with thecommutator, after which, by the continued motion of the lever onto thecontact-plates a b', die., the strength of the current will be graduallyincreased by the successive elimination of the resistances.

Thus it will be seen that in stopping and starting the car motion willbe very gradually decreased and increased, while in reversing theposition of the commutator-brushes there will be little or noobjectionable sparking, as the lever will have been moved to the centralposition in which the current from B will be interrupted by the time thebrushes are brought out of contact, as shown on the drawings.

Figs. 3 and 4 show the actual arrangement of the stopping, starting, andreversing gear IOO upon the car. f f are vert-ical spindles at each endofthe car, provided at their upper ends with crank handles g g, movingover graduated quadrants h h, while at their lower ends they areconnected by levers N to the rod S, passing along underneaththe car, andconnected by a link, S', with the before-mentioned rocking frame T ofthecommut-ator V of the electro-dynamic motor K, supported at the middle ofthe car-framing by suspended bearers. The spindle f, at the right-handend of the car, also carries at its lower end a contactlever, N, the endof which, on the rotation of the spindle in one direction or the other,makes contact with one or other of the plates a b c d e, Src., of theswitch L,which plates are connected to resistances, as described withreference to Fig. 5, and which may be placed at any convenient part ofthe car. rPhe divisions on the quadrant h being made to correspond withthe contact-plates a b o d e, Src., it will be seen that according asthe driver moves his handle g to one or other of these divisions he willeffect the stopping, starting, or reversing of the motion of the car, orwill vary the speed with which it travels.

The lever N makes contact with a conducting-wire leading to the one pairof the commutator-brushes, while the other pair of brushes iselectrically connected through another wire and the axles and wheels ofthe car with the permanent way serving as the return conductor.

The motion of the dynamo-axis is communicated to the axle by means of apitch-chain passing over a small pitch on the dynamo-axis and a largerpitch-wheel on the axle.

The car herein described is the same in all respects as that describedin another application led by me on the 9th day of December, 1884,except that the pole of the electro-dynamo motor is connected to apendent conductor, K, instead of being connected to a spring at the sideof the vehicle. I therefore do not desire to secure by LettersPatentanything described herein which is claimed in the said application filedDecember 9, 1884.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United Statesl. The combination of the suspendedrail, the contact-truck having brushes that press against the undersurface of the conductingrail. and the pendent socket havinga flexibleconductor leading to the railway-carriage.

2. In an electric railway, the combination of a conducting-rail with asmooth under surface for the contact-brushes, connected with astationary dynamo-electric machine, and an insulator from which theconducting-rail is suspended.

3. rlhe contact-truck consisting of two side cheeks,C 0 connected bybolts D,and uprights E, provided with grooved rollers F, as and for thepurposes described.

4. The combination of the contact-truck having sockets G, and stop-pins,o, with brushes adjusted by clamping-screws, as and for the purposesdescribed.

5. In an electric railway, the combination, 7o

with a rail'connected with a stationary dynamo, of a series of brushesmounted in a traveling truck, and having springs which cause them topress against the side of the rail, as and for the purposes described.6. The combination, with a rail connected with a stationarydynamo-electric machine, of a truck movable upon the rail, and havinggrooved rollers which travel upon the edge thereof, as and for thepurposes described.

7. The combination ot' a rail, connected with a stationarydynamo-electric machine, with a truck provided with sockets in which aresecured contact-brushes that press against the under surface of therail, so as to vcarry the current from the latter to the frame of thetruck.

8. The combination, with a conducting-rail, ot' a contact-truck havingreversible brushes l provided with springs and stops, as and `for 9o thepurposes described.

9. In an electric railway, the combination of one or more stationarydynamo-electric machines, a movable car having an electro-dynamic mot-ormounted thereon, a conductor arranged above or at the side of themovable Y car or vehicle, and a branch conductor provided with acontact-truck having reversible brushes in electrical contact with theconductor and electrically connected with the motor, as and for thepurpose described.

l0. The combination of a conducting-rail electrically connected with onepole of a dynamo-electric machine, a traveling contacttruck providedwith reversible brushes, an electro-dynamic motor electrically connectedwith the contact-truck and mounted upon a movable car, axle-boxeselectrically connected with the motor, wheels the axles of which revolvein the axle-boxes, and rails supporting the wheels and electricallyconnected to the stationary dynamo-electric machine, as and for thepurposes described.

11. The combination, substantially as herein set forth, of anelectro-dynamic motor mounted I I 5 upon a movable vehicle, acircuit-controlling lever capable of closing the circuit upon thecommutator of the motor to produce either for,- ward or backward motionof the motor, and a traveling contact-truck provided with reversiblebrushes electrically connected with the motor. as and for the purposesdescribed.

12. The combination, substantially as herein shown, of anelectro-magnetic motor and its commutator, with two sets ofcontact-brushes electrically connected'with a traveling contact-truckhaving self-reversing brushes, one set ot' contact-brushes being soadjusted as to produce rotation of the motor in one direction, and theother set so adjusted as to produce rotation in an opposite direction.

13. The combination, in an electric railway, substantially as hereindescribed, of an electrical dynamic motor, two sets of contact- IIObrushes, a lever adapted to throw either one of the two sets ofcontact-brushes into contact with the eommutator, and theother set outof contact therewith, and a contact-truck having reversible brushesconnected tothe car, whereby a single movement of the lever reverses thedirection of travel of the car.

14. The combination of an electro-dynamic motor and its commutator, twosets of contact-brushes, a lever capable of being placed in a positionfor throwing the brushes for producing a direct motion into contact withthe commutator, of removing all contacts from the commutator, and ofthrowing brushes for producing a reversed motion of the motor intocontact with the commutator, and a contacttruck having reversiblebrushes connected to the car upon which the motor is placed, as and forthe vpurposes herein described.

15. The combination, substantially as herein set forth, of anelectro-dynamic motor and its commutator, two sets ofcommutator-brushes, adjusted respectively to produce direct and reversedmotion of the motor, a reciprocating rod or bar, operated by leversattached at each end thereof, and a contact-truck provided withreversible brushes attached to a car.

16. The combination, substantially as herein set forth, of anelectro-dynamic motor and its commutator, two sets of commutatorbrushesarranged to produce either a direct or reversedmotion of the motor, asliding rod or bar adapted to throw one set of brushes into contact withand the other set out of contact with the com mutator, devices foradjusting the position of the shifting or sliding bar, and a travelingcontact-truck provided with reversible brushes electrically andmechanically connected to a car.

17. The combination, substantially as herein shown, of anelectro-dynamic motor and its commutator mounted in a depending framebeneath the car with two sets of commutatorbrushes, one of which is soadjusted in relation to the commutator as to produce rotation of themotor in one direction, and the other of which is so adjusted as toproduce rotation in the opposite direction and a contact-truck providedwith brushes which re- .verse themselves when the direction of th motorofthe car is changed. Y

` 18. The combination, substantially as set forth, of an electro-dynamicmotor and its commutator, supported by suspended beams, two sets ofcontact brushes or devices, respectively adj usted to produce direct andreverse motion, a shifting-rod passing along underneath the car andconnected with the rocking frame of the commutator-brushes, and acontact-truck traveling upon a conductor and provided with brushes whichreverse themselves when the direction of the motion of the car isreversed.

19. The combination, substantially asset forth, of an electro-dynamicmotor and its commutator, suspended by beams from the bottom of the ear,two sets of contact-brushes or devices, respectively adjusted to producedirect and reversed motion, a shifting-rod passing alongunderneath thecar and connect; ed with the rocking frame of the commutator-brushes,vertical spindles at each end of the car connected by levers'with theshiftingrod, and a traveling contact-truck having reversible brusheselectrically connected to the contact-brushes of the commutator.

20. The combination, substantially as herein set forth, of anelectro-dynamic motor suspended by bearers from the bottom of the car,and having upon its axle a pitch-wheel, a large pitch-wheel upon theaxle of the carwheel, and a pitchchain passing over the smallpitch-wheel on the axle of the motor and the large pitch-wheel on theaxle of the wheels, and a traveling contact-truck having reversiblebrushes, as and for the purposes described.

21. In an electric railway, the combination, substantially as herein setforth, of a frame suspended beneath the car, having resistancesconnected together in series, a series of contact-plates electricallyconnected together, a contact-lever which makes the same connection withthe contact-plates when moved a certain distance in one direction aswhen moved a certain distance in a reversed direction, and acontact-truck having reversible brushes and electrically connected withthe contact-lever.

22. The combination of the contact-plates a b c d e, connected,respectively, with the contact-plates a, b c d e, the contact-lever N,which on being moved to the same angle of resistance on either side ofits Contact position makes the same contact, and the contact-truckhaving reversible brushes 4electrically connected to the contactlever.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, this 9th day of September A. D.1884.

ERNST WERNER SIEMENS.

Witnesses:

M. S. BREWER,

JOHN R. RosLYN.

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